The University of Glasgow has been granted over £900,000 for vital research into adults and children who have Crohn’s disease.
RESEARCH
The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust awarded Glasgow University £904,216 to research the clinical outcomes of a solid food-based diet on those living with the condition.
Researchers at the university have worked closely with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) to create Crohn’s Disease Treatment with Eating, or “CD-TREAT”.
The innovative diet comprises of everyday food to stimulate the same changes in the gut microbiome as those seen in a liquid-only treatment.
Meal plans including chicken and rice soup, salmon and mashed potatoes meant researchers could show that CD-TREAT was beneficial in healthy people and in animals with gut inflammation.
60 per cent of children with active Crohn’s who took part in a CD-TREAT pilot entered complete remission on the food-based diet, and their gut inflammation also decreased.
WHAT IS CROHN’S?
Crohn’s disease is a lifelong condition that affects the digestive system, leaving parts of it inflamed. It is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
It can affect anyone of any age and symptoms usually begin in childhood.
Main symptoms include:
diarrhoea
stomach aches and cramps
blood in bowel movements
tiredness
weight loss
Symptoms can be constant, or can come and go, known as flare ups.
TREATMENT
Current treatments include steroids to reduce inflammation, medicines to prevent inflammation, or surgery to remove a small part of the digestive system.
There is currently no cure for Crohn’s, which is why it’s so important that more programmes researching the disease are funded, to ensure one day a cure is discovered.
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